Thursday, April 9, 2015

40 Years Ago

I meant to post this yesterday but utterly forgot in the morass of watching following the Brewers as they dropped their third straight game to start the season...

One of my favorite items of baseball memorabilia that I own is my Milwaukee Braves pennant from the mid-1950s.  It was my mom's pennant when she was a kid, and it became mine as the one who loves baseball far more than either of my two brothers.


When you talk about the Milwaukee Braves, the three guys whose names come up most are Ed Mathews, Warren Spahn, and, of course, Henry Aaron.  Personally, I don't collect Aaron as a PC for two reasons.  First, I have enough to chase with Yount, Molitor, Mathews, Spahn, etc. Second -- and more to the point -- I really associate Hank Aaron with the Atlanta Braves and not the Milwaukee Braves.  

Nearly 10 years ago, in the office building where I worked at the time, they allowed a sports memorabilia guy to set up during the week prior to Father's Day.  He had a ton of different items -- college and pro football, basketball, and baseball mainly.  Two items caught my eye. One of them was a Brett Favre autographed photo with mocked-up ticket stubs from the two mid-1990s Super Bowls, and then, this other one:


In case you can't tell, that is a Hank Aaron-autographed timelapse photo from his 715th home run -- taken forty years ago yesterday.

Here's the description on the bottom:


Aaron is a major figure here in Atlanta. He owns a BMW dealership on the south side of town, and he still serves in an ambassadorial role for the Braves.  He will be honored tomorrow night at the Braves game for the 40th anniversary of the Ruth-breaker.

In my eyes, he is still the Home Run King:


And that call by Milo Hamilton is still the best. Even if Vin Scully called it (below), Milo owned it.


The cards will return another day.

8 comments:

  1. Yup he is DEFINITELY still the home run king as far as I'm concerned. Great pennant and autographed photo!

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  2. Milo's call is the one I remember. Vin is just being Vin - a fantastic story teller with a smooth cadence and a gentle tone. Both are great calls, but Milo is the better.

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  3. There is NO other HR King, and likely never will be. Suspicion will be the rule now, I fear. Your pennant looks fantastic in the frame. Such a cool piece of history to own, even more special since it was your mom's.

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  4. I'd pick Vin's call over Milo's any day. Anyone could have said what Milo said. Vin was beautifully poetic in a way only he could be and also taught me two things I never knew in just watching that video. Vin. No contest.

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  5. That is some great memorabilia Tony! I thought both calls of the homerun were spot on.

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  6. Vin's voice and baseball go together like butter and popcorn. As for that photo... it's spectacular! I'm glad the artist who created this time lapsed photo included the two idiots who chased down Aaron on the base paths.

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  7. Great piece Tony. Remember watching the Homerun like it was yesterday. Sitting in the living room with my father

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